> Flurry Heart and the Imprisoned King > by ddstory25 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Learning about history > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- She wanted answers and her parents never gave her any. They always said when you’re older. She was already sixteen. How much older could she get? None of the many history books she read could soothe her buzzing mind. Not even her aunties would tell her the full history of her homeland; they always told her to ask her parents. Flurry Heart knew there had to be more than what they told her because every time she asked them about it they always shied away from the questions. She was always fascinated by the history of the Crystal Empire, from the crystal fair to the first princess of the Crystal Empire, however, whenever she managed to get to the part about the dark unicorn king, the books and stories always sped through it. Flurry couldn’t believe that everypony would skip over something so important. She seemed to be the only pony who cared about knowing the full story of the dark king who was lost to time. After years of asking about the unicorn king, she had finally gotten her Auntie Twilight to talk a little bit about him. In the heat of the moment, Twilight accidentally revealed that the dark king had a study beneath the throne room of the crystal castle. Flurry was amazed to hear this and she quickly started working on Twilight, trying to convince her to show her the study. She wanted answers and so far this was one of the few leads about the dark king she had. After several months of working on Twilight to show her the dark king’s study beneath the throne room of her home and lots of negotiations later, she had won Twilight over. It was perfect, especially since the crystal fair was coming up in another few days, and she was finally going to get some answers, and it only cost her having to work in her aunt’s library for about three months reorganizing all her books. It was worth it to see the study of the unicorn king who ruled the empire before her mother. That night after dinner when everypony else was asleep, Twilight took Flurry into the throne room and proceeded to open the passage that leads to the king’s study. They descended the stairs to the door at the bottom; Flurry watched closely as her aunt performed the dark spell again. The door swung open by itself revealing the study. It was like a time capsule, everything was persevered perfectly, even the journal of the king was in pristine condition. She entered the room and wanted to touch it, it seemed to lure her to it but before she could even touch it, Twilight separated her from the book. Pulling her out of the room, she forbade it, not wanting her to even touch that book let alone be in the study any longer than they had to be. The next night, which was the night before her sixteenth crystal fair, she was going to go down into the study and read the king’s journal, the artifact Twilight would not allow her to touch when they went down together. She crept down the corridors of the castle, avoiding all the guards until she came upon the throne room. Grinning smugly at the crystal that decorated the top of her mother’s throne, knowing what secrets it held, she focused hard letting the dark spell she watched Twilight use the other day come to her, so she herself could open the doorway. ZAP! Her eyes fluttered open to see the floor opening up with a long winding staircase appearing before her. Although her head hurt, she clapped her hooves together in excitement as she approached the staircase. She started her descent down the stairs, reaching the door at bottom in record time. She focused once again on the dark spell to activate the door that leads to the study and again she opened her eyes to see the room before her. It was the same as before: a bookcase filled with old books, two statues of the unicorn king himself, a desk and chair in the middle of the room. Flurry sat in the chair as she looked at the desk before her with a book sat before her. It was a blue covered journal with gold trimming and binding. She opened the journal and began reading about the dark king that every pony wanted to forget. Flurry couldn’t wait for nightfall she wanted to get to the crystal dungeons which lay deep below the Crystal Castle. Her parents thought that they had hidden away the fact that they had hidden a prisoner from their daughter, however, Flurry was too clever for them. She had found the guard's logbook when she was six and knew that every three months a new guard switched off to watch the dungeons. She could only wonder who was imprisoned below her home, the logbooks never mentioned who their captive was. As a child, she could only imagine a dragon or rouge changeling that served the malevolent Queen Chrysalis, however, now she had a feeling there captive was the king of monsters. Her heart raced just thinking about it. She knew her parents were always hiding something from her but a whole prisoner was something else. Her heart just wouldn’t slow down as a new thought about the prospect of a piece of history sat imprisoned before her. She couldn't wait until nightfall, and at that moment, her mother walked by and noticed her excitement. Cadence approached her daughter with a smile on her face. “Are you excited for the Crystal Fair, Flurry?” “Hmm, oh yeah I can’t wait.” Cadence gave her a skeptic look but let it go. She figured her daughter’s giddiness was because of some boy she met. She could feel her heart racing, a lovely melody. One of the perks of being the princess of love was when somepony was excited about something they loved she could feel their heartbeat. Her smile returned to her. “Well, I hope you have fun today.” “Oh, I will mom I can’t wait to see the Crystal Heart and the rest of the fair.” “You seem really happy this year did you learn something new about the Crystal Fair? You always get this giddy when you discover something new about the Crystal Empire. Or is it something else?” Cadence said raising her eyebrows in a lewd manner. Flurry forced a smile; she was slightly disgusted by what her mother was implying but she didn't want to reveal what she had done the night before to her. She quickly thought up a lie instead of playing along with her mother's fantasy. “Oh, I learned that if you mix crystal berries with crystal corn the flavor is unbelievably bad. Apparently, it was an old tradition at the pie eating contest to eat the two together and see who lasted the longest before some pony got sick. Until one too many ponies got sick and they stopped doing that.” Cadence looked a little disappointed but just shook her head in amusement as she walked away from her daughter. “Well please don’t try that tradition I don’t need you getting sick my love.” “I wouldn’t dream of it, mother.” “I’ll see you at the fair honey.” Flurry watched her leave, as soon as she was out of sight she sighed heavily. “That was close.” “What was close?” A masculine voice asked from behind her, she instantly recognized the voice. “DADDY!?” Shining Armor looked down at his daughter, a smile crossed his lips, “What was close? Are you hiding something from Mommy?” He asked in a childlike way. “Dad I’m not a child anymore and maybe.” Flurry could always talk to her father more easily than she could her mother, something about him made it easier to talk to. He cocked an eyebrow as he spoke playfully. “Oh! What are you hiding, what did you do?” “NOTHING!” She yelled back playfully. “Nothing or something?” He gave her a funny look. She knew she wouldn’t be getting out of this, if anything her father was a great detective, and although she was good at hiding things, he seemed to find out some of her secrets. She figured that's why mom liked him and why he was head of the royal guard. She had to make a convincing lie for her father. She knew he hadn’t figured out what she was planning but one slip up and he would be investigating her. “Well you see dad, I figured I would get something nice for mom at the Crystal Fair and she almost caught me in the act of figuring out what to get.” “And what are you getting her? She has everything anypony could ask for.” “I figured I would get her…Well me.” She smiled brightly hoping he bought it. His playful face turned into confusion as he questioned her. “But she already has you, Flurry. So why are you getting her yourself?” “Well, I was thinking about giving her me, with a new mane cut.” “A new mane cut?” He looked unconvinced, Flurry was worried but kept smiling to hide her panic. He held his gaze but let it go and rubbed her head. “Well if you think she’ll like it I say go for it, sweetie.” “Thanks, Dad.” She watched as her father left to go check on the fair. She relaxed as she let her breath go. She didn’t realize she was holding it the whole time as her father left her. She got up and walked outside to the fair ready to get through the day. > Meeting a Monster > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Crystal Fair had finally ended and as every pony retired for the night, Flurry raced to the castle to get to her room. As she entered her room, she grabbed her saddle bag, a quill, empty notebook and the only thing she took from the dark unicorns study. She headed to where the crystal dungeons were which only a few ponies knew of. She looked at the two guards who stood in front of the hall that leads to the only prisoner to speak of. She needed to figure out a way to get past the guards til she remembered she was an alicorn, and she could just teleport passed them. She focused all her magic into teleporting passed them, but instead of being behind them, she was in front of them. Her eyes turned into saucers as her ears folded back. The guards were alarmed to see the young princess in such a dark place. The one on the right spoke in an authoritative tone. “Princess, what are you doing here?” “You should be in bed right now;  it's very late.” The other said. Flurry feared they would tell her parents about her being here, but she quickly thought of a lie. Something she was good at lately. She stood up straight and gained a regal aura to her. “I’m here on official busy.” She said to both guards as authoritatively as she could muster. The guards were suspicious. The one than asking: “What kind of business do you have with this vile creature?” She gulped as sweat started forming on her forehead but she held her ground. “My mother wanted me to inform our prisoner that another Crystal Fair has passed and that the Empire is still safe.” It was farfetched but it had to work. She quickly straightened herself out again and spoke before they could. “My parents thought it was time, I meet the prisoner. And you’re interfering soldier. Now let me through.” The guards looked at each other but quickly relented, allowing her to pass by them with the one on the left giving her a warning as she walked passed them. “Be careful my princess for he is quite a hoof-full. His cell is the last one down the corridor of the dungeon.” “Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind.” Passing the two she quietly squealed in joy, knowing that, that worked. She trotted down the corridor.  The dungeon felt like an icebox; it was colder than the rest of the castle. It didn’t bother her much as she continued walking down the corridor that was lit with torches along the wall, revealing the light blues of the dungeon and empty cells. Flurry was excited. Finally, she was going to see what her parents were hiding from her. Her mind raced as she approached the cell, questions filling her to the brim. She stopped in front of the cell and gazed upon it; blackness lined most of the interior. Her smile faded as fear quickly overtook her. All of her questions faded away. CRASH! Flurry backed away, she wasn’t expecting such a loud greeting as she peered at the creature who had slammed against the bars of his cell: a unicorn whose coat was as gray as ash and mane as black as the shadows. The unicorn's horn was smooth and curved upwards, black to red. He was as tall as a tree or at least it seemed like he was, he was by far taller than her father. The unicorn king the former ruler of the Crystal Empire before her parents was peering back at her with hatred consuming his ruby eyes. Flurry slowly approached, wonder and caution swirled in her eyes. “You’re the unicorn king. You’re King Sombra.” She whispered in amazement to the pony before her. The unicorn smiled at her, a sicking smile ]“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, what do you want?” His last words dripped with venom as he backed away from the bars and sat in the middle of his crystalline prison. Flurry breathed in and then breath out, calming her rattled nerves. “I’m Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire. I’m Princess Mi Amore Cadenza’s daughter and I came here to speak to you.” He raised an eyebrow at her asking cautiously. “Princess Flurry Heart? You look like, nevermind. You’re that child, aren’t you?” “Child?” “Yes, the one I held captive so your parents would relinquish the Crystal Empire to me.” He sounded so confident at that statement as he questioned her. “How old are you, child?” “Held captive, I don’t remember that.” “You were an infant at the time!” He snapped at her, “Now answer my question child, how old are you?” She frowned at him. “I’m sixteen years old, now why don’t you answer my question?” He ignored her. “Sixteen years old? I see I’ve rotted down here for sixteen years. Oh, how time flies when you’re imprisoned...No isolated." “Hello? Answer my questions?” He didn’t hear her as he addressed her again with his arrogance laced tone. “What brings you down here to see me? Surely your pathetic father didn’t send you down here and your mother would never allow you to see me.” He stared at her. Flurry’s face turned red and her feathers ruffled. “My father isn’t pathetic! He’s the bravest captain in the guard!” She yelled defensively. Sombra smiled at her again revealing his fangs. “Child, that knight, no that prince couldn’t even stop me from retaking the Empire let alone repel my magic. Even now his sealing spell only stays in place due to an additional spell used by the princess of love which binds me here.” She looked shocked that he seemed to know so much about his prison cell, then again, he did say he was imprisoned for sixteen years. She shook her head as she realized she was getting off topic. She straightened herself out and reached into her saddlebag pulling out two notebooks, one of which the unicorn recognized. “That’s my old journal. Why do you have it? Don’t you know it's wrong to take things that aren’t yours?” “Pfft! You’re one to talk… So you’re really King Sombra. I knew it, I knew they couldn’t hide you from me!” Flurry started jumping up and down as a smile spread across her lips. As she jumped up and down, Sombra just stared at her disgusted, he wished she would go away; her childish behavior was unbefitting for a princess. Sombra huffed as he raised an eyebrow. “Sixteen years down here and my first visitor beside that foolish prince is an annoying child. What's worse is that your that fool’s child.” He snorted. “What do you want again? And what do you mean I was hidden from you?” Although he was annoyed, she noticed the second part of his question was laced with curiosity. Flurry stopped her celebrating and returned to the task at hoof. “Right, well my parents don’t talk about you or your reign over the empire. In fact, you aren’t even in many history books. A lot of the texts you’re in only mention you briefly and then skip right to when my mother took over the empire.” “What morons!” He hissed. “Skipping over me. A curse to themselves.” He whispered under his breath as Flurry continued on.   “And I want to know what happened a thousand years ago. I mean every history book just skips over you and never even mention the first crystal princess in detail. And I read your journal, but I want to hear it from you, yourself.” He didn’t answer. He seemed amused by this. A knot started to form in Flury’s stomach as his silence prolonged. She worried he would refuse her; his smile faded as he laid down on the floor of his cell. “*Huff*. Why do you ask if you’ve already read my journal? You already know the answers child. And there’s nothing more than what you read. What would be the point to hear it all again? What you read is what you get.” Flurry blinked dumbfounded, but she just couldn’t accept that it wasn’t an answer but a way to avoid answering. Plus she wanted him to describe everything to her in great detail. That's why she had brought another notebook with her so she could record everything that happened. She breathed out again and began to speak as authoritatively as possible. “Let me clarify, I want to know why you hurt Princess Amore. I also want to know what she looked like, you lacked proper descriptions in your journal. Why you stole the Crystal Heart. Why you choose to accept something you could have changed. Who was Radiant Hope and why did you abandon her?” At the mention of Radiant Hope, he lashed out sending black crystals towards the pale pink princess. The spell failed as the magical barrier keeping him trapped inside his prison appeared between the two. He cursed the barrier that keeps him in; Flurry flinched as she wasn’t expecting such a violent reaction from him. She continued speaking as she approached the bars to his cage cautiously once again.     “I want to understand how some pony who wanted so desperately to see the Crystal Fair turned out like this. How some pony who loved another so deeply became so cruel. How you came back to life after the Crystal Heart destroyed you the first time or why you’re here instead of deceased like how all the history books say you are.” He huffed in annoyance as he laid back down, “Ask your parents! They’ll be delighted to tell you all about me." Again he was trying to avoid her, “I already told you they won’t tell me anything about you. Please, I really want to hear about the past, I love learning and what better way to learn about it than to learn from the pony who was there?” She pleaded with him holding her front hooves together. As Sombra watched her, he was confused by this girl since she didn’t fear him nor did she want to hurt him. She instead wanted to learn about him. It was peculiar; no pony ever wanted to talk to him let alone be near him for longer than they had to be. He looked at her again, puppy dog eyes staring back at him; he flinched to see such a face as usually he only saw anger or fear upon a pony's face. The face she was making disturbed him, he had forgotten what childish begging looked like. “*Sigh* If I tell you, will you go away? I would prefer you leaving or have that laughable prince come visit me. Either way, I want you to leave me alone after this. ” She smiled brightly with her puppy dog eyes still on ignoring the last part. “Yes!” “Fine, I’ll tell you anything you want to hear just stop making that face! It's creeping me out.” She dropped her puppy dog eyes and replaced them with a serious expression as her notebook floated next to her with a quill appearing from her bag, “Ok now please tell me what-?” A voice from the distance stopped Flurry mid-sentence. “Princess are you done yet; it’s been a long time?” Flurry pouted as Sombra smiled smugly. “It seems your time is up to my dear. I’ll see you another time.” He said triumphantly figuring she would never appear before him again. She looked at him with her cheeks puffed out, turning red again. Her reaction disturbed him. She let out the air that was stored in her cheeks and answered the voice cheerfully. “I’ll be right there.” She looked straight into Sombra’s eyes as she answered the guard her determination drilled into him. “I’ll be back tomorrow. Just you wait.” “Oh, lucky me...” He said sarcastically. Flurry got up and smiled at him. “I’ll see you tomorrow, King Sombra.” He was surprised to see the current monarch address him in such a manner, but he ignored it as he watched her leave. ______________ Flurry had a big smile on her face as she walked down the corridor. Her thoughts were beside her. Oh I can’t wait to ask about Princess Amore tomorrow I bet she was really pretty. I wonder why my parents didn't want me to meet King Sombra. He seemed so mellow, well arrogant is more like it. And he even agreed to answer all the questions. Hmm... maybe it's because he did all those bad things before and they feared for my safety. Did they even ever read his journal, it would seem he started out like everypony else? Well whatever the case, I’ll be back tomorrow, but I have to get past the guards again, and that excuse won't work again. She reached the end of the corridor and only realized it when she heard somepony address her. “Princess, are you alright? The prisoner didn't do anything to you, did he? You were gone for a long time.” She looked at the guard who addressed her. “Oh, he didn’t do anything to me. I’m fine. See!” She unfolded her wings and smiled at the two guards. They eyed her and let out a sigh of relief. She walked by them before leaving she addressed them both. “Oh, I’m sorry about this.” Before they could react,  a spell was cast on them as Flurry disappeared from their memories as she replaced herself with another guard. She finished casting the spell and rushed back to her room before they saw her as she passed through her door with her magic and slammed it shut. She sighed heavily. She hated doing shady things, but she also didn’t want her parents to know what she was up to. As she walked over to her balcony that overlooked the Crystal Empire, she spoke aloud to no pony but herself. “How am I going to get passed the guards tomorrow?”   She sighed heavily. She knew teleporting was out of the question. The spell on the dungeon made it impossible to teleport in or out of it as a security measure for the king if he ever got out of his cell. She also didn’t want to have to use a memory replacement spell on the guards again as it just felt wrong. She wondered for about twenty minutes about the dungeon. The dungeon was below the castle. Perhaps there was a secret passage into the dungeon. It wouldn't be the first time this crossed her mind though. Afterall all she did find a secret passage connecting the kitchen to the library. Flurry smiled with renewed vigor. “Alright after breakfast, I’m heading to the library. It’s time to do some research!” > Princess Amore > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A stack of pancakes sat in front of Flurry, the usual morning routine for her. She shoveled the pancakes down her throat as quickly as she could. She wanted to get to the library as quickly as possible. After finishing her plate, she got up and bolted for the door only to be stopped by somepony pulling her back by the tail. Her eyes meet with her captors, her father.  “Whoa there! Where are you heading off to in such a hurry, Flurry? Also.”  He pulled her close and whispered in her ear. “I thought you were getting a mane cut? What happened?” Flurry panicked internally for a moment. Ahhh! My lie! I forgot about that! She whispered back, “I didn’t see any style that looked good. So, I didn’t get anything for mom... Don’t tell her.” Flurry pulled away and smiled at her dad. He looked at her a bit confused but smiled and nodded his head at her. Her nerves faded as she answered his first question, excitement laced her tone. “I’m going to the library! I have some research to do.” Her excitement turned into sass. Shining’s smile widened as he looked at her, “It must be important if you're shoveling breakfast down that quickly. What's the topic?” “The complete history of Canterlot Castle.” Shining Armor just looked at his daughter confused as to why she would change her studies to Canterlot so suddenly. She was recently obsessed with learning everything about the Crystal Empire, well almost everything. He thought for a moment but soon came to the conclusion that she had reached a dead end and couldn't continue with her research. He smiled again, laughing to himself.  “Well, you can always ask your Auntie Twilight for help with that. She knows the castle and its history very well.” She smiled as she ran out the door, yelling back to her dad.   “Thanks, dad! I’ll ask her when I hit a snag!” She reached the castle library in no time. The castle library had about 20 rows of bookcases stacked upwards to the ceiling and the bookcases covered every wall with random cases in the middle of the room. The castle library had over thirty thousand books from all over, past and present with a big table in the middle of the room. A few smaller tables were scattered around. She quickly started grabbing all the scrolls and books she could with the Crystal Castle’s design. She started looking through every blueprint, every historical record, and every drawing of the castle.  ~hours later~ “Finally! I think I found something!”  She shouted in triumph as she held the oldest blueprint of the castle in her hoofs above her head.  “What did you find?” A familiar voice said from behind, she jumped, almost dropping the scroll. She didn’t know that somepony was behind her. She turned to see her favorite wizard behind her, his glasses slightly falling down his face. “Uncle Sunburst, you scared me!” “Oh, sorry Flurry. But what did you find?” Flurry looked at the scroll and then back to Sunburst guilt suddenly racking her mind. She knew she could trust Sunburst with anything but what she was doing was crazy and reckless. The situation was unsavory but she knew if she was caught and had to be lectured it would be better to hear it from Sunburst than her parents.  “*Sigh* I found another secret tunnel on this scroll. It leads to the dungeons.” She looked up to meet his disapproving eye since a princess shouldn’t be going into the dungeons alone, instead, she saw his usually enthusiastic face. He grabbed the scroll up in his yellow magic and looked it over, his happiness fading as confusion took over.  “This is the first design of the castle, Flurry. I don't think this passage was even built.” Flurry's ears folded against her skull. Worry laced her tone. “Well, I looked over every other blueprint and every other one seems to have a corridor that leads to nowhere in the same area. I think… I think it was built and only the princess could use it.” He adjusted his glasses as he grabbed some of the newer blueprints, gazing at them and comparing the oldest ones to newer ones. He knitted his brows together in confusion “Why are you looking for secret passages anyway?” “Ooh, I uh... decided to map them all out.” She smiled nervously hoping another lie would save her from telling the truth.  “Hmm, but why would you want to map out the one that leads to the dungeon? Nothing's down there anyway. Just some old suits of armor and dusty cells.” He looked perplexed by her actions as he put all the scrolls down. He hesitated to ask but a voice in the back of his mind nagged at him to ask.  “Do your parents know about this?” Her ears flattened against her skull again as she averted her gaze. She quickly forced a smile, answering him nervously.   “What they don't know, won't hurt them.” He raised an eyebrow, a grin on his lips.  “They don't know, do they?” She looked around nervously holding her breath, he repeated louder.  “They don’t know, do they!?” “Huh, fine you got me! They don't know it’s a surprise. Just don't tell them, okay?”  “I won't tell them… As long as you tell me where all the secret passages are. And I get to write a book about the castle's secret passages.” She again couldn't believe her lie worked but she nodded in agreement to his terms as the clock in the library rang out.  “Oh right! I came here to get you, it's time for dinner, Flurry.”  He said as they both got up to leave.  “Yeah, I’m hungry, I didn't even realize the time. You know time sure flies when you're studying something so interesting.” She said as she got up from her stool.  “It sure does." They walked together to the dining hall chatting away about what kind of passages could be hidden around them. A few hours after dinner and everypony was asleep except the night guards and Flurry who was on her way to the dungeons. She only had her saddlebag with the two journals and a makeshift map in front of her. She was looking for the hidden passage feverishly, taking mental notes on where the guards patrolled. It took her forty minutes to get to the royal garden, the passage was supposedly located somewhere inside. She entered the garden and looked around; the crystal roses blended perfectly with the canterlot lilys. The light blues complimented the deep purple of the lilies while rows of chrysanthemums lined the path leading into the inner garden; she could spend all day in the garden. Its beauty surpassed the Canterlot garden by a million years but she had to focus somewhere inside the garden was a secret tunnel. Looking over the little map she drew to help her find the tunnel again was difficult since the map didn’t have all the vegetation on it. She walked past the bed of moon flowers which had just opened up revealing their white petals, she stopped to gaze at them. She pulled herself away from them as she continued walking. Passing the trumpet vine flowers, a row of rose bushes, and a patch of tulips. She finally made her way over to the daisy patch. “Okay, I think the tunnel is in the daisy patch.” She assured herself as she started to dig in the flower bed. After twenty minutes of looking with dirt caught in her hoofs and covering her mane. She approached the field of forget-me-nots and gazed at the map again, looking at the ground and back to the map several times, hoping it would give her the answer.  “Ugh, where is it! It has to be here!” Frustration was overtaking her as she looked at the map then the ground again, her eyes bugging out of her head. Till an idea struck her and she smacked herself in the face “It would be a crystal cavern so why don’t I use a spell that locates crystals. I could have found the thing faster if I just did that!” Her horn lit up and the ground became translucent as a large cluster of gems appeared around a door buried deep in the ground. “Aha! There it is!” She looked down at her map and grabbed the quill out of her saddlebag making a big x mark on the spot. She put the quill away as she quickly dug into the spot she saw surrounded by crystals. She dug a few feet into the ground until the door was before her, she grinned like a filly. She pulled on the door handle, at first she had trouble opening the door but after struggling for a few minutes she got it to open. She did have the strength of an earth pony after all. She illuminated her horn and performed a spell that turned the dirt she dug up into a hatch door that could be pulled open. Before entering she made sure to line the ground hatch door she made up perfectly with the hole she dug up. Making sure it hid the hole and new crystalline door that was buried in the ground. Once that was done, she entered and closed the newly made trapdoor behind her. She was now surrounded by darkness and a damp earthy smell. She wrinkled her nose at the smell as she illuminated her horn. She walked down the tunnel, slowly observing its interior with curiosity. Crystals jetted out of the walls and floor of the tunnel in clusters, some had grown from the floor into the ceiling of the tunnel. She figured they had grown like this since she was below the crystal castle, they were probably giving the castle some sort of support. Several twists and turns later, she came upon a dead end. “What? No, this can’t be it. I said I would come back today. I have to get through this. This can’t be the end of my research!” Panic laced her voice as she frantically started to feel the wall hoping for a switch or a lever, however, she couldn’t see any and she couldn’t feel anything either. She stopped and backed up in defeat and as she did, she felt something fall beneath her right hoof as the wall started to shake and fall revealing the dungeon on the other side.  “Huh, a floor button, how clever.” She entered into the familiar corridor and walked slowly down it until she was again in front of Sombra’s cell. He seemed to be gazing at the wall lost in thought, or was he sleeping, she couldn’t tell. She quietly approached the bars.  SLAM! He didn’t make a noise but jumped up and turned towards the noise. He was enraged thinking it was a new guard here to gloat, however, that rage was replaced with surprise. Instead of a guard, it was that child again. “What!? You’re back!” The shock was evident in his tone. Flurry smiled at him, smugly. “Just like I promised, King Sombra! Now you’re going to tell me everything I want to know, remember, you promised.” She said jovially. He sat down as he glared at her.  “I didn’t expect you to actually come back. I figured your father would have punished you by now since I’m guessing you're not supposed to be here. Also, why do you look so… dirty you’re royalty, don’t you have any dignity?” He gazed daggers at her, annoyed. Her heart sank when he mentioned that she wasn't supposed to be in the dungeon. He was right she wasn’t supposed to be here, but she wanted to learn about him so badly. Her quest for knowledge burned stronger than her desire to obey her parents' rules. She shook her head and forced a smile upon her lips as she pretended not to hear that last part. She answered him happily. “Oh, I had to find a secret passage down to the dungeons since the front entrance wasn’t an option anymore. Besides, I have dignity. I did it all in the name of research.” Sombra rolled his eyes at her as she continued on.  “So King Sombra, tell me about Princess Amore. The first crystal princess.” She said this as she pulled her notebook out of her saddlebag along with a quill. She cast a spell on them so they would write everything for her. She was now ready to record whatever he said. Sombra looked at her puzzled.  “What makes you think I’ll uphold my promise?” She bit her lip and looked to the side. He was right, why should he uphold his promise to her. He didn't know her and as far as she could tell he didn’t like her. She looked back at him and gave a devilish smile, arrogance lacing her tone. “Cause you promised King Sombra and kings always uphold their promises. But if you don’t, I can always come back and keep asking over and over again until you break.”  He grinned at her, showing off his fangs. “Or I can yell for a guard to come to take you away.” Her ears flattened against her skull as her eyes almost fell out of her head. “You wouldn’t stoop so low, would you King Sombra?” He gave her a steely-eyed glare and sighed in irritation “I hate the guards more than you.” They stared at each other in silence for what felt like an eternity before he sighed in defeat. Seeing as there was no other way for him to get rid of the irritating princess, he lay down in his cell and spoke flatly.               “Clever girl. Are you sure you’re that prince’s child? You're too cunning to be his offspring.” She raised an eyebrow with a smug look on her face, he sighed again before starting. “She was beautiful beyond belief-her coat was a light pink-” “Pink like mine or like my mothers?” He huffed and gazed at her annoyed and yet somehow angered at the same time. She held her breath and mumbled,  “sorry.” “As I was saying she had a light pink coat, maybe like a peach, it’s hard to say. Her crystal coat was always so shiny, it must have been from all the love she had. Her eyes were stunning and they shone like the sun in a bright dazzling yellow or maybe amber. Her mane and tail were long with curls much like yours. Her mane and tail were also bright pink and ended with a dark blue color. Her bangs parted in the center of her face right between her horn and they curled at the ends. Atop her head was a blue crown with a yellow heart in the center and a braid was wrapped in front of her crown. She also had some sort of head crown around her head. It dipped right between her eyes with another yellow heart on it and little blue circles hanging off it, three on each side. Around her chest was a necklace thing, I don’t know what it was but it had yet another yellow heart in the center, and around her hoofs were blue bandings. They crossed and at each cross-section, there were little yellow hearts.” He thought to himself for a moment “She had a thing for yellow hearts. And her cutie mark, well you’ve already seen it.” As he said that Flurry gazed at him, her grin fell and a confused frown overtook her features. "What do you mean; I’ve seen her cutie mark already? Also great stuff. I can't wait to have some pony paint a portrait of her.” Sombra scowled as he rolled his eyes at her. “The Crystal Empire’s flag. That snowflake isn’t just some random snowflake. Don’t you know where it came from?” A lightbulb went off in Flurry’s head as she understood what he was saying instantly and she blurted out in excitement “Oh my gosh! The snowflake on the flag is Princess Amore’s cutie mark? How cute.” “Yeah, cute.” He said flatly. “She was a unicorn as tall as Celestia an-” “She wasn’t an alicorn like me or my mother or my aunties?” “No, she wasn’t.” He hissed at her.  “Now as I was saying before you interrupted again, her horn was quite long but not longer than Celestia’s. She also seemed to never age. She looked the same when I saw her again as an adult. And her voice, if I recall correctly, was angelic.” “What do you mean angelic?” “Hmm... I would say it's better than yours. Her voice was smooth and sweet, yours is like nails on a chalkboard.” “Hey!”  She looked at him annoyed, as he gave her a triumphant toothy grin. She huffed. “Give me a better description.” “I can’t. I hardly remember her voice. I just remember it was soothing to hear. It could ease your worries in an instant. The kind of voice that could soothe a crowd of anger ponies in an instant.” “Okay, well what was it like when she ruled? Many of the books just say she was benevolent. And that she did many deeds to keep the empire safe.” He rolled his eyes at her again.  “It was quiet, nothing happened. No foe or enemy. It was peaceful. I only know of a few and that was from books. They’re probably the same books you read about her.” Her ears flattened.  “So it was just like now? Peaceful?” “Yes.” In a matter-of-fact tone. Flurry pleaded, “But what about her heroic deeds? Her leadership, her magic, her, her family!?” “I don’t know anything about that. I only met her twice and neither encounter was that magical. Perhappens you’re related to her but again I don’t know.” Flurry sat on her haunches and rubbed her temples as she pulled her face down. She pulled out his journal and opened it to the page about Amore’s shattering, “Ugh, okay, okay so in your journal it says here that you turned her into stone and shattered her BUT you didn’t kill her. So how can somepony find her shards, I mean no pony has even tried looking for the shards to my knowledge.” He smiled warmly at her, Flurry felt unnerved. She figured he was a cruel monster, but she didn’t think he could smile like that. She only ever saw him smile smugly or wickedly. This smile seemed surreal. “Do you wish to find her, child?” His tone was laced with careful care. Flurry felt her stomach somersault as a slow fear climbed up her spine. Something seemed off about him, she replied cautiously.   “Maybe? I mean she is alive, so she should be revived. Isn't that why you left her alive?” He closed his eyes and started to laugh. At first, it was sweet like a warm sunny day, but it slowly turned into something wicked and twisted, like a thunderstorm. Flurry shuttered at the sound. “The only way to track her shards is to use my dark magic but no pony can use it for long. Alicorn or not you wouldn't last long using my spell plus most shards are in the Frozen North which is filled with danger so finding her is next to impossible. ‘Twas a fitting punishment for a liar like her.”  A hateful smile painted onto his face as his last sentence oozed with hatred and a hint of sadness. Flurry felt her heart sink, her face lost color as she thought about Princess Amore’s fate. It was a fate worse than death, she appeared to be lost forever. Until an idea crossed her mind. She perked up and smiled at him, his wicked smile faded into a frown. “Next to impossible but not completely impossible. You can find her, so why don't you?” His jaw fell slack, disbelief crossed his face as he heard her crazy idea. Only one word could leave his lips. “What?” “Yeah, I can ask my parents and you can find her and bring her back and redeem yourself. It’ll be great. Princess Amore won’t have to suffer anymore and neither will you. It’s a win-win!” “Are you nuts!? That will never happen!” “What, why not!?” She whined at the caged king. “Because one, I'm never leaving this dungeon as ordered by the princess of love herself. Two, even if I did find all the shattered shards and brought her back she would never forgive me.” He looked down at the ground, Flurry saw it for a brief moment, she saw regret cross his features. It faded as quickly as it appeared as he continued speaking.  “I would much rather rot here with my current crimes than actually do anything to atone for my crimes. Besides, I don't rather like you royals, so aiding you is out of the question.” “But, but, you could lessen those crimes and get out of here! You can be a better pony. I’m sure the princess would forgive you.” Worry laced her voice as she pleaded her case to Sombra. He ignored her pleas. “It’s impossible for me, so do it yourself...Listen I told you about Princess Amore now go away. You’re irritating me.” He hissed at the young princess, however, Flurry wouldn’t just go away she was determined to get more information. “But, but...The princess she can be saved I, we-"  “I said get lost!” He roared at her, she held her breath as fear crossed her face. She let her breath go. As a thought crossed her mind, asking aloud without much thought, “Why was she a liar?" Sombra didn’t say anything. The tension between them grew thicker. Sombra sighed,  "She's a liar because she knew what I was but did nothing to help. She never told me or tried to help me understand. It was a poor decision on her part… It helped lead to her downfall." Flurry tried to wrap her head around his answer but couldn't. It didn't make sense to her. "If what you're saying is true why didn’t she-" "I said get lost! I'm done talking about that liar." He glared at her again, as he stood up to his full height. Even from behind the bars, Flurry could tell he was taller than her. She swallowed her building fear, as she answered him. "Okay. Fine, I’ll stop for tonight but I’ll be back tomorrow just you wait.” “Lovely.” He groaned. She put both journals away as she walked away from his prison back to the secret passage. He watched her leave thinking to himself. What an odd child? Redemption for me... How funny. A monster like myself doesn’t deserve such a thing...Still, she’s more pleasant than the guards. I just hope she doesn’t come back tomorrow like she said she would. She irritates me more than the guards or her wretched father. She made her way back to her room. She put her saddlebag down and took out her journal. She looked over the passage the spell had written about Princess Amore. The description was perfect, her spell copied every word he spoke perfectly, she couldn't pull away from the writing. As she read the passage again for the third time she grabbed a quill and started to draw on the page next to the passage. Princess Amore was now next to the passage although she felt she didn't do her justice with her doodle. She put the quill down, as she sighed heavily. “Poor Amore, she's destined to remain shattered forever... Maybe I’ll convince him to help her one day. After all, he can't be that bad if he left her alive. And he's been a decent acquaintance so far, for supposedly being an evil tyranny. I know I can change him.”  She smiled to herself. Her smile faded as asked aloud to herself, "I wonder why he thinks she's a liar thought. What he said doesn't make sense? She knew he was an umbra… whatever that is… Guess, I'll learn more tomorrow."  She jumped onto her bed, a yawn escaped her lips. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. > The Crystal Heart and Faire > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Flurry was exhausted, two nights in a row to talk to the imprisoned king was a bad idea, however, she didn’t care. It was well worth it, the information she was gathering about the Crystal Empire from a thousand years back was going to help her rule over the empire. She also knew she was going to use the lost information to enlighten the crystal ponies about their lost history since no textbook in the entire empire even mentioned Princess Amore or how Sombra came to power. Something she chalked up to Somber destroying the records and wiping their minds. She had light bags under her eyes, she only had about four hours of sleep and she had to keep up appearances. Sleeping in wasn’t an option. She couldn’t afford to let her parents know what she was up to. In order to avoid them today, she ran and ate breakfast as quickly as she could and bolted to the library. Neither of her parents saw her as they were just entering the dining hall as she was running out. Making it to the library in record time, she sat at her usual table and grabbed some books up in her magic, they were all about Canterlot. Although she didn’t care about Canterlot right now she had to keep up the act that she was studying the castle. She opened a book and started to read it, however, about ten pages into reading it her vision blurred as she read. Her mind repeated the same sentence over and over again till everything went dark. ~hour later~ Something was shaking her, it wasn’t violent but a light-loving shake. She groaned as she opened her eyes, turning her head slightly towards the hoof on her shoulder. Her eyes  meet her mother’s loving face, a warm smile upon her lips. “Flurry, sweetie are you alright? You were sleeping in a book!” Concern laced her voice and overtook her features. “Wha? Yeah, I’m fine, just tired is all.” “Is something going on?” “What, no! It’s just that all these books are a bit dull. Well, that and I’m so excited about reading about Canterlot and learning about its vast history.” Cadence cocked an eyebrow at her, giving her a look of disbelief  “Are you sure? It seems like something else is occupying your mind right now.” Flurry looked at her mother with a curious look  “Why, what do you think? Do you think something is going on mom?” “Well, I think you're occupied with something or with someone else?” Flurries face turned a bright shade of crimson as embarrassment burned through her. She couldn't believe what her mother was implying  “I’m in no way infatuated with anypony right now! I'm infatuated with my research! How dare you say or imply such a thing!” “I never said anything about liking some pony.” Flurry looked dumbfounded, she forgot who she was dealing with. Her mother could make you spill the beans about anything she wanted and she never even had to try. It was a special talent of her mothers and it was one she feared and respected. She had watched it in action many times and always told herself that it would never work on her but that was always a lie she told herself.  “I-I um well maybe I’m a little distracted but it's not because I like somepony.” “I know, I was teasing you. Have you forgotten what I’m the princess of, my love?” She smiled lovingly at Flurry  “Now let’s go get some lunch, I’m guessing you’ve been napping since this morning.” “What no! I’ve only been napping for a few minutes now! I did research today, I swear.” She answered defensively, Cadence just smiled  “Whatever you say, dear. Now let's go, I’m sure you're starving.” Before she could protest her stomach let out a loud growling noise. She got up reluctantly and followed behind her mother. The rest of the day passed without any incidents, which made Flurry happy. It seemed that her secret was still safe for now as night fell upon the empire once more. She gathered her usual supplies preparing to go down to the dungeons again to talk to Sombra. She made her way to the dungeons in record time avoiding all the guards and entering the secret passage. She was once again in front of the familiar cell, however, she didn’t see Sombra inside his cell.  “Sombra?” She asked aloud, she watched the cell carefully. Her eyes caught a glimpse of something moving in the back of the cell, approaching her. She held her breath for a moment, as a dark thought crossed her mind. Have I been caught? To her relief it was the all too familiar unicorn king, his ruby eyes glaring at her with disgust. “You're back again? Your persistence is commendable, I'll give you that. However, it's also quite annoying.” He sat in the middle of his cell, his last sentence dripped with venom aimed at her to take the hint and leave him alone. She just smiled at him as she sat in front of the cell and pulled out both journals from her saddlebag and a quill.  “Well I still have questions, King Sombra and I'll take your, ummm,... comment as a compliment. Besides, we're friends now.” “You really shouldn’t take that as a compliment. And we're not friends.” Lowering his gaze and snarling slightly. She ignored his disdain and looked into his journal. Flipping through some pages until she stopped and smiled triumphantly  “Aha! Here it is now in your journal you wrote ‘little did I know I was meeting my greatest enemy.’ That was about the Crystal Heart, what exactly did you mean by that? I mean on this page where you wrote ‘It was either me or the heart. Finally, I know I would never have to suffer through another Crystal Faire.’” “It’s exactly as I wrote, child. What more do you want?” He hissed at her, annoyed to hear her ask such ridiculous questions. She narrowed her eyes at him, frowning  “Well, I’m so sorry MR.KING! If I don’t understand what you wrote. I don’t exactly know what an umbrum is; there's no record of them anywhere besides what's in your journal. And I don’t know of any instance of the heart killing or hurting any pony either. I find this part to be very confusing. Sorry, I’m not educated on the umbrum.” “Hmm, I suppose there wouldn’t be any record of the umbrum since they have been locked away for a millennium. Well all but me…” He hummed, a hint of despair laced his voice. Just mentioning that his people were still imprisoned, just like him, seemed to sadden him. However, that despair quickly faded as he continued “They, I, am a pony made of shadows and smoke, a dark being that feeds on fear and negative emotions. Although I don’t know what they look like, even my appearance now is false. They may be ponies but they don’t look like normal ponies. I imagine they are large beings with sharp jagged fangs and very powerful dark magic. Something only found in the nightmares of young children. Or maybe they are like pixies, somepony always said they had fairy friends that hid in the shadows. Either way, it doesn’t matter.” Flurry was unsatisfied with the answer but continued her line of questions “Okay, so then if you're an umbrum why do you look like a pony, and more importantly how did you get out of their original prison? And why did they send a kid? ”    “I don’t know why I look like a normal unicorn pony. I hypothesized that a powerful spell was cast on me to make me look like a normal pony and due to the appearance I gained; I was able to escape the prison. But that’s just a guess, besides my own, I don’t really know the nature of umbrum pony magic. I also don’t know why they sent a child, maybe it was easier to cast the spell on a child than an adult… Then again I never bothered to ask ‘why me, why did I have to suffer?’ That’s such a pain to ask because it happened so what's it matter.” “I see…”  Did he just give up asking why cause it was easier to accept than to be upset at ponies he's never met? That bothers me but I gotta keep asking about the Crystal Heart, learning about the umbrum seems to be a dead-end, since Sombra himself doesn’t know much about them either. “Is that why your horn is curved and smooth?” She pointed to it, he just gazed at her unamused as he answered monotoned “I believe it’s like this now because I awakened my dark magic. It was just like any other unicorn horn until I gained my dark magic.” She furrowed her brow as she asked a new question,   “So how exactly is the crystal heart your enemy? It’s an artifact that's been here for a long time and it spreads love and joy throughout all of Equestria. It was even here when you were growing up.” As she finished speaking she realized why it was his enemy, he said so himself the umbrum, the creature he was, fed on fear and negative emotions. The heart probably purified what they needed to survive and thus was a threat. She also hypothesized that the heart’s magic was the complete opposite to any umbrums and thus it needed to destroy what was bad. His voice snapped her out of her thoughts “It’s the enemy because it can kill me. It also keeps the seal on the umbrum in place so they can’t escape their prison. Besides keeping the Frozen North's weather away, it's a seal and threat to my people… It has already caused me much pain; ever since I saw the thing for the first time.” “Right, it made you sick when you were young and the faire helps keep the heart powered up. No, wonder you cursed the heart and stole it. I'm guessing you cursed the faire too. I mean any pony would fear death if they were told ‘If you have not removed the heart by the next Crystal Faire. It will destroy you.’ I understand why you took it.” He raised an eyebrow at her “What are you talking about? Sure enough, I was indeed told the faire would kill me that year if I didn’t steal the heart. But I never cursed the faire. I only cursed the crystal ponies and the princess who powered the heart. The ponies who hated me and caused all my pain and sorrow. And the princess who knew everything and said nothing till it was too late.” His face contorted into a rage just recalling the princess and the crystal ponies. Flurry was confused “You never cursed the faire? But it made you sick and you hated that feeling didn’t you? Or at least weren’t you tricked into believing the heart and empire was your enemy?” “Of course, I hated being sick. Who would want that ailment? Unable to move, a fever, no appetite, and pain throughout your whole body. It made me feel like death was always upon me that day. But I only ever wanted to see the faire, something you could never understand. I also don’t know if I was tricked but I’m guessing you're talking about what that red crystal told me.” She nodded. “At that time I was upset and filled with grief, anxiety, and anger. Anything said to me at that time would have swayed me. I suppose now that I think about it I may have been tricked or used to benefit another. But fate has a funny way of making everything that’s supposed to happen, happen. If I didn’t have that encounter with the red crystal then something else would have caused me to realize my dark heritage. ” “Wait, you're just NOW thinking about that!?” He felt insulted that she thought he wouldn’t have come to that concussion on his own. He answered her  “No, I've had these kinds of thoughts for years now. Isolation in this prison has given me time to think about my poor choices, however, we're not discussing that right now. Get back to the topic at hoof.” Anger filled his voice as Flurry frowned but complied with his request as she continued from where she left off “Fine, so the crystal faire which powers the crystal heart would kill you? How are you still here now? Since I’m guessing you’ve been here for a number of years.” “I’ve been down here sixteen years now; do you listen at all? Well, whatever. I suppose I haven’t succumbed to the heart's vile attack every year because I assume I’m too far down to feel its effects. Or the spell used to bring me back was powerful enough that I can’t die right now.” Flurry suddenly felt a ping of guilt for him. Now knowing that all he wanted was to see the crystal faire and even now trapped in the empire he still couldn't see the faire. She folded her ears asking  “You really wanted to see the faire didn’t you?” “More than anything. Every year I hoped and every year was the same thing, disappointment.” He answered, looking straight at her. She noticed he wasn't looking at her but through her. Looking at something that wasn’t there. Her ears flattened as she dropped her gaze to the light blue floor. “I’m sorry to tell you, Sombra but the crystal faire already happened this year. Maybe next year you can see it.” She said hopefully but her words echoed in his ears, as silence took over the pair in the dungeon. The air felt colder to her as she watched Sombra. He appeared to be lost in thought, he suddenly got up and walked back towards the darkness that lined the back of his cell. Flurry watched him, trying to stop him before he disappeared  “Ah wait, don't go yet. I just want to know why you still want to see the faire after all this time?” He looked back at her and she could see that deep in his eyes despair filled them. Is he depressed about never seeing the faire?... Did I make a mistake?  It felt like a knife was digging into her heart.  “Because it’s all she ever wanted to do with me. It is after all ‘ the most magical celebration in all of Equestria. It’s the most beautiful thing in the world.’ But alas a monster can never dream of seeing something so beautiful. Now, can they.” His words weighed heavily as he disappeared back into the cell, Flurry had tears in her eyes. She put everything back in her bag peering back at the cell, “I’ll be back again... If it's worth anything… I don't think you're a monster. And I'll make sure you see the fair next year with me.” No response, only the cold silence that sat between them. She sighed heavily in disappointment as she turned away to leave > Your Life > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Flurry was sitting in her room just looking at the last passage the spell wrote. Sombra’s words echoing in her mind ‘A monster can never dream of seeing something so beautiful. She didn’t really understand why after all these years he still believed he was a monster. She had learned from her mother to love and respect everypony and everycreature. Auntie Celestia taught her that every pony was capable of changing and Auntie Luna taught her to forgive ponies for their past mistakes. Her favorite aunt, Auntie Twilight had taught her that everypony deserved friendship. So why was he still imprisoned? Was what he did so bad? Was what he did really unforgivable? She couldn't make sense of it; they had forgiven Discord, a creature that threw Equestria into total chaos. Twilight had forgiven Starlight even though she had apparently destroyed the world several times over, and Starlight even learned the magic of friendship. Celestia herself forgave Luna when she came back and was no longer Nightmare Moon. Luna even changed into a better pony to make up for her past mistakes. Even the changelings changed and were now allies with Equestria. Knowing all this she just couldn't understand why no pony tried to change Sombra or give him a chance. Was it because he wasn't really a pony or was it because he refused to talk to anypony? It could have been his personality, he is difficult to talk to. And the fact that only guards and her parents visited the dungeon bothered her. Flurry looked at the passage again, her thoughts swirled together.   Why do you think you're a monster? Did no pony try to befriend you again? Did anypony even talk to you? I don't think what you did was that bad, well compared to what Discord did, what you did was nothing really. But then again all the books I’ve read just say that he enslaved everypony and then cursed them. Is that really any different than Discord or Starlight? Is it really so bad to want to live? I guess the way he went about it was wrong but still? I just don’t understand why he’s still imprisoned. He’s clearly not a threat and he seems so… sad deep down… Why is he still imprisoned?’  Flurry put the book down and sighed as she spoke to no one “I think I’ll give him a few days before I question him again. Besides, that’ll give me some time to do more research on Canterlot Castle and catch up on sleep.”  She yawned all the way to her bed. She jumped up onto it and drifted off to sleep.   Two days had gone by before Flurry had decided to go back to the dungeons. She had new material to work with since she went and visited the Canterlot library to see their records. She had found out that Sombra had come back, after his original defeat by Uncle Spike. Though he was defeated by her Auntie Twilight and friends. After his defeat, he was apparently destroyed by the elements of harmony. However, that information couldn't be true since he was imprisoned below the castle. She figured they rewrote history in order to ensure peace and hide the truth from the public. It wasn’t much but it was something new she could question him about, she was armed with her saddlebag ready to go. She moved swiftly through the dark corridors of the castle reaching the garden in no time. Before she opened the passage she stopped and looked at the crystal roses, she remembered how he seemed when she left. Depressed and lonely. She decided to pick some roses, grabbing a bunch in her magic. She smiled brightly at them “I hope these will make you happy, Sombra. You deserve some happiness.” With the flowers in her magical embrace, she opened the passage and descended down into it, as somepony watched her from afar.  “Oh, King Sombra! I’m back~.” In a sing-song voice, Flurry looked right at the gray unicorn. For once he was sitting near the bars looking out at her. He replied ruefully “Your back. What took you, you didn't come yesterday or the day before that? I thought you had given up or been caught in the act.”  To her surprise, he admitted he was waiting for her in his own weird way. Flurry smiled awkwardly  “You were waiting for me?” “I have nothing better to do.” He turned his head slightly away from her, hiding the relief that overtook his features. Her smile widened  “Well, I wanted to give you some space since last time you seemed, you know, mad. And besides, I brought you these.” She pulled the crystal roses out from behind her back levitating them over to the cell. Surprise overtook his features, no pony in their right mind would bring him something so, so lovely. He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head as he asked curiously  “Why did you bring me these? Whatever possessed you to do that, bringing me a gift?” Her smile slowly turned into a frown “Well last time I made you feel bad so I thought this might cheer you up. Since I’m guessing you only ever look at the dark hallways and floors and maybe a guard once in a while. I thought something pretty would...I don’t know, make you feel better. ” He just looked at the roses, a genuine smile spread across his lips. “Although I appreciate the gesture, child, I cannot accept them.” “What!?” She almost dropped the roses as her jaw fell slack, he looked somewhat amused  “I can’t accept them because I can’t even take them, the barrier around my cell keeps my magic and me in. Also, nothing can enter this barrier unless Shining Armor allows it to enter, so your gift will go to waste.” Flurry looked disappointed as she sat down in front of the cell, placing the flowers down in front of her.  “Well, I guess you can admire them from afar. Right?” “Yes, I suppose. I can do that.” She proceeded to pull out her notebook and quill. Ready to start her interview today “Alright, so how did you come back the first time?” He looked puzzled asking bitterly  “Clarify your question. It's vague."  "You know after you were sealed away the first time. In the Frozen North." "So when Luna and Celestia banished me to the ice in the Frozen North?” “Yes.” His eyes darted back and forth, confusion was evident on his face. “I just came back, they only banished me for a thousand years. They seem to like the thousand-year thing as evident with Discord and Nightmare Moon. So when a thousand years passed I came back along with the empire. I only cursed the empire to be gone for as long as I was gone. And over the years the magic seal breaks down.” “Soooo, how did you come back the second time? I mean you were banished again. Resealed into the icy north. Right?” She put her hoof in front of her mouth, raising her eyebrows in amusement. She noticed his gaze. Highly unamused and disappointed in her. She whispered  “Sorry.” He rolled his eyes speaking monotone “I’m surprised you don’t know that.” She looked puzzled, frowning at him “What do you mean?” He snickered  “Grogar.” Her ears flattened, eyes bulging out as her breath failed her, she raised her hoof to her mouth. Her mind numbed Grogar was a true monster, if Sombra was king of monsters as he claimed then Grogar was the god of the monsters. Grogars tales of evil were fairy tales told to children, until recently. When he had returned and sought Equestria's demise. She dared to ask “How? How would I know that? Grogar was only spoken of in recent texts and even they don’t mention you, only his accomplices.” “He was a powerful mage even greater than I or Discord. He used a very powerful necromancing spell to bring me back from the ethereal plane.” “Wait, so when Spike gave my mom the crystal heart they really did… you know... kill you.” She whispered the last part as if the word itself was taboo. Sombra just looked at her slightly annoyed “Yes it did, although who’s this Spike you speak of?” Flurry was shocked that wasn’t the reaction she was expecting  “Um, Spike is the dragon who brought my mom the Crystal Heart when the empire reappeared. You tried to kill him, I think.” He looked confused “Was there a dragon? I only remember Cadenza grabbing the heart while it fell. After she got the heart it was all over for me the first time. ”  She just looked at him surprised, “Seriously!? You don’t remember the dragon at all? How do you not remember the dragon!? There was a statue of him, you had to have seen it when you invaded again. He's purple and green, spines on his head down to his tail!” He just shrugged at her, she puffed up her cheeks and breathed out heavily “Okay, whatever. So why did Grogar revive you?” “Simple really, he wanted me to help him in his scheme, however, I don’t do team work. So he said ‘If you can retake your empire then I’ll leave you be’ or something along those lines. I don’t really care what his reasons for bringing me back were, all I know is that he also failed to destroy Equestria. He failed just like the rest of us failed. We all failed and succumbed to Princess Twilight and her friends.” Flurry looked confused again “How could you know that?” He huffed “Simple you're alive and you said you're sixteen, I attacked you when you were an infant. Therefore I can deduce that he failed because if his plan succeeded we’d all be dead.” She was stunned, she didn’t think he figured that out but then again she was underestimating him, again. If he couldn’t figure that out then he wasn't a very smart pony. She knew he was quite intelligent, just from reading his journal. He mentioned his love for puzzles and books as a colt many times in his journal. “Okay, so Grogar." She shivered at the name “Brought you back to life. How did you survive all this time, if the crystal heart is supposed to kill you.” “I told you already, I don’t know. I’m guessing it’s because Grogar’s spell was very powerful and because of how powerful it is the heart is having a hard time killing me. Or again it’s because I’m too far from the heart for it to affect me. I don't feel ill anymore when the faire date approaches, whenever it is. It's probably the latter… I suppose the heart is slowly chipping away at my life. Biding its time to kill me.” Before Flurry could say another word they heard something down the hall, a voice slowly approaching getting louder with each step. “This job is easy. All you have to do is check on the prisoner every few days or so and escort the food server down here.” Sombra got to his hoofs, speaking in a whisper “You better hide, the guards are coming. If they see you, you’ll never be allowed back here and we can’t have that can we?” He flashed her a smile as her horn illuminated, making her disappear before his eyes. The guards, one a pegasus the other a unicorn. The unicorn approached the crystal cell looking at Sombra in disgust.  “Well, well I’ll be damned. I thought this position was a joke but there really is a prisoner here. And it's the infamous King Sombra. Ha, oh how the mighty have fallen.” The unicorn guard chuckled at Sombra, Sombra answered monotoned  “You must be new. Great another one, tell me are you as stupid as you look?” The guard’s face flushed red as he grabbed Sombra by the throat with his magic, rage consumed him “You're a pathetic pony who couldn’t even take back the empire. You're a failure, so why is a failure like you looking down on me! You smug jerk!” “Did I strike a nerve? You dolt.” Sombra choked out. His magic grip tightened, Sombra struggled to breathe, however, he refused to show any weakness to this thug. Before he could tighten his grip again his partner put his hoof on his shoulder  “Dude let it go, he's not worth it. Just leave him alone before you kill him. Besides, we're supposed to be making sure the prisoner stays here. We aren’t allowed to harm him. And you're acting out of line, he's always smug, get used to it.” He looked at his partner and released his magical grip  “Huh, fine I guess you're right. I just didn’t expect this to be real. At least hurting him felt good. Huh, whatever, let's go back to the post, there's nothing he can do anyway.” The pegasus watched the newbie head towards the entrance he sighed heavily “Why are you always so smug to everypony?... Sorry about my new partner.” A hollow apology.  "You know I hate your apologies. You've been doing it for years. When will you stop apologizing for somepony else's mistakes and poor behavior?"  The guard didn’t answer; he turned around and left. Silence set in around the dungeon. Flurry released her spell tears falling down her eyes, fear evident on her face. Sombra coughed  “I hate new guards *cough* *cough* They always think, there so tough. *cough* *cough* Such fools.” Flurry sat up and held her stomach “Wh-why did he do that, you can’t do anything to anypony? It was awful. It was mean and and…” “One new guard gets switched in every three months. Looks like it’s been three months already, it does hurt but the pain always subsides. As to why they do it I’ll never really understand. I’m already down on my luck so why beat me down? I am just assume, it's to show off how strong they are or how much they resent me. I brainwashed everypony, perhaps it's revenge.”  Flurry didn’t respond, she closed her eyes and breathed out  “That isn’t right I-I’ll tell my father he’ll stop them from hurting you. They shouldn’t do that, it's wrong. No pony deserves this, you're alive whether you're a bad pony or not.” “Don’t bother, if you tell him you lose your research material. Besides, it hardly hurts. They are rather weak. I’m stronger than I look, you know. I don’t need your sympathy.”  Flurry felt a pit form in her stomach, however, she knew he was right, she begrudgingly looked away as she put her notebook and quill away. She spoke her voice was shaky “I’m done for today, I’ll see you tomorrow.”  Sombra just watched her, he looked down at the roses and back at her “You better be back, I’ve grown to somewhat enjoy your company girl.” She looked over her shoulder back at him stunned to hear such a thing, she started to think she imagined it but could tell from the look on his face she didn’t. She headed to the secret passage and whisper to herself  “I’ll be back.” She exited the hidden passage and darted out of the garden, the night was her shroud as she reached the door and left the garden.  “I saw somepony found a secret passage in my garden. I’ll have to inform the princess of this.” A lone figure watched the silhouette from behind the azalea bushes.